I can’t help myself but to have a good laugh today when I read a very direct translation done by our dear YB Ir Mohamed Nizar Jamaluddin of “Better the devil you know than the angel you don’t” to “lebih baik (memilih) syaitan yang anda kenali dari malaikat yang anda tidak kenal”.
Perhaps, if YB Mahfuz is the one made such error, I still can take it, as it has been in records YB Mahfuz has made numerous out of context statements.
However, considering YB Nizar is a professionally qualified engineer and I verily believe he has a good command in English, he should be able to understand and translate an IDIOM better than what he has done. Let’s take a look what Harakah has reported, shall we?
KUALA LUMPUR: Kenyataan berkias bekas Perdana Menteri Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad bahawa “lebih baik (memilih) syaitan yang anda kenali dari malaikat yang anda tidak kenal”, boleh mengelirukan umat Islam.
Ahli Jawatankuasa PAS Pusat, Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin berkata, kenyataan Mahathir itu juga bertentangan dengan akidah Islam yang mewajibkan setiap muslim percaya dan beriman kepada malaikat seperti termaktub dalam rukun iman, sedang syaitan pula katanya, adalah musuh yang nyata bagi orang Islam.
“Berpegang kepada akidah Islam, kita kena percaya kepada malaikat, dan syaitan itu musuh kita.
“Kenyataan (Mahathir) itu agak mengelirukan. Kalau suruh pilih syaitan, itu tidak boleh,” katanya kepada Harakahdaily.
Beliau yang juga Ahli Parlimen Bukit Gantang berkata demikian ketika diminta mengulas tulisan terbaru Mahathir dalam blognya chedet.cc semalam.
Dalam entri terbarunya itu, Mahathir berkata lebih baik mengundi “syaitan yang dikenali dari malaikat yang anda tidak kenal”.
Katanya, Barisan Nasional (BN) telah terbukti mendengar keluhan rakyat dan banyak perubahan telah dibuat berbanding Pakatan Rakyat yang menjanjikan banyak perubahan tetapi tiada jaminan bahawa janji tersebut akan ditunaikan.
Mahathir juga berkata tindakan memberikan peluang kepada Pakatan Rakyat membentuk kerajaan selama lima tahun boleh mewujudkan kucar-kacir dan memusnahkan negara.
Membidas kenyataan itu, Nizar yang juga Timbalan Ketua Penerangan PAS Pusat berkata, rekod 54 tahun pemerintahan BN sememangnya telah meletakkan Malaysia dalam keadaan kucar-kacir termasuk soal perundangan, ekonomi dan juga politik.
“Saya tak tahu dia (Mahathir) rujuk syaitan dan malaikat itu kepada siapa. Tapi sepertinya Syaitan itu dirujuk kepada Umno BN. Seperti mengatakan Umno itu syaitan.
“Yang penting kita tak boleh pilih syaitan, kita kena percayakan malaikat,” katanya.
It seems he has direct translated an IDIOM, which somehow now made him look like an IDIOT.
What is an IDIOM? According to this website, Idioms are words, phrases, or expressions that cannot be taken literally. In other words, when used in everyday language, they have a meaning other than the basic one you would find in the dictionary. Every language has its own idioms. Learning them makes understanding and using a language a lot easier and more fun!
For example, “break a leg” is a common idiom.
Literal meaning: I command you to break a bone in your leg and you should probably go to the doctor afterwards to get it fixed.
Idiomatic meaning: Do your best and do well. Often, actors tell each other to “break a leg” before they go out on stage to perform.
If using YB Nizar and Harakah’s direct translation, I believe if any BN leaders said “break a leg”, the news of pro PR will say BN leaders encourage Malaysians to break their leg (“patahkan kaki anda”).
So, what does “Better the devil you know than the angel you don’t” means? It means “that it is often better to deal with someone or something you are familiar with and know, even if they are not ideal, than take a risk with an unknown person or thing” and it has no direct translation to choose the devil rather than angel.
For those interested to know more about other IDIOMS, you can search in online sites.. for example as this one.
For those who still can’t get what is IDIOM in English, in Bahasa Malaysia, it is SIMPULAN BAHASA. For example, take a look at this site.
If you think this article is harsh and too educational, maybe, you can read dinturtle’s article which is more relaxed approach.
To YB Khalid Samad and YB Dr Dzul, please help to advise YB Ir Nizar. I cc to both of you for your kind attention and further action. Don’t let this incident tarnish the professional and educated image that has been developed for PAS.
Thank you.
Advise on the street: Take a step back and think before you say or act.. might save you from looking like an IDIOT because misinterpret IDIOMS. 🙂
On Da Street 
Salam,
sewaktu saya membaca post Dr. M, saya dah boleh agak ayat last tersebut akan menjadi suatu isu. Dan sungguh, saya tergelak apabila ia menjadi hangat di laman FB ahli2 pakatan akibat terjemahan langsung ayat tersebut.
Apabila saya bertanya macam mana pula kata2 TGNA tidak apa untuk menerima bantuan syaitan? Tahu pula mereka cakap saya tidak paham ayat TGNA tersebut dan berjela2 la penerangan mereka untuk menegakkan benang yang basah.
Susah nak sedarkan orang yang dah terlampau taksub ni.
W’salam.
Jika artikel ini masuk logik akal, sampaikanlah kepada mereka akan artikel ini untuk sama-sama buka fikiran dan mendidik diri agar tidak taksub sangat. 🙂
Considered done ;p
Thank you 🙂
Admin Pencacai,
‘better the devil you know than the devil you don’t’. Ini yang betul!!! Tun M tukar devil kepada angel. Bodoh sungguh kamu!! Peribahasa asal negara Mat Saleh! Tun M gi tukar tapi dia mamak!! Ha ha…
saudara,
Dua-dua peribahasa itu betul dan dua-dua itu idioms.
Sila klik link yang saya sudah berikan di atas, dan ini link untuk idioms yang baru saudara beri: – http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/better+the+devil+you+know.html
Ambillah lebih sedikit masa untuk membaca, menelaah, dan mengkaji ya saudara.
Terima kasih. 🙂
Sbenornya dia bukan tak faham. Tapi cari modal. Dia ingat rakyat ni bodoh sengal buta huruf, nak telan bulat2 fitnah yg dia reka. Alhamdulillah, Tun Mahathir dan pemimpin2 dahulu dah bangunkan Malaysia dan sistem pendidikan, rakyat dah cerdik (kecuali pengikut PR yg buta perut – eh, paham ke dema?). Setakat nak provoke kosong, pikior le dulu bai Nizar…
Askm. Kalau dah taksub maka masuklah mereka dalam golongan orang2 ” BODOH TAK BOLIH DIAJAR, PANDAI PULA TAK BOLIH DIIKUT”.
Eloklah mereka ini terus berdoa kpd Allah SWT utk mendapat petunjuk kerana Allah itu Maha Mengetahui & Maha Bijaksana.
Haha…senang kata, diorang tak tahu dalam bahasa Inggeris pun ada peribahasa/simpulan bahasa diorang sendiri.
‘Stupid you are ,admin’ . No other modal u want to attack nizar? Come out with more matured content insteak of fokusing on this tiny matter. Morong guy,weak ball…
“Hey my english!fame me in your posting!”
Thank you huhu for an enlightening comment.
By the way, which part of this article is not matured? When others think this is too educational (even some say should not be written at all because we have learn it in school), so far, you are the first to say this is.
Enlighten me, please. 🙂
Tahu kah anda kata-kata yg Tun Mahathir ambil itu bukanlah dari peribahasa Inggeris tetapi dari Kitab Freemanson – Sacred Secrets. Apakah Tun saorang anti ISLAM? Golongan Freemanson adalah golongan yg menyembah Dajjal dan menolak kesucian ISLAM. Takkan Tun mengambil suka2 ayat ini kalau dia sendiri tidak pernah membaca atau mendalami apa yg terkandung dlm buku ini. Please go through this book and justify yourself who is Tun actually. Please decide wisely and as a purely & truly practising Muslim you make your own judgement about Tun statement..
seriously? not all stuff are freemason wateva dude…this is like “Oh My English” at Astro CHannel 610.
Admin Pencacai,
‘better the devil you know than the devil you don’t’. Ini yang betul!!! Tun M tukar devil kepada angel. Bodoh sungguh kamu!! Peribahasa asal negara Mat Saleh! Tun M gi tukar tapi dia mamak!! Ha ha…
saudara,
Dua-dua peribahasa itu betul dan dua-dua itu idioms.
Sila klik link yang saya sudah berikan di atas, dan ini link untuk idioms yang baru saudara beri: – http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/better+the+devil+you+know.html
Ambillah lebih sedikit masa untuk membaca, menelaah, dan mengkaji ya saudara.
Terima kasih 🙂
Ammar, kalau macam tu macam mana pula ammar tahu yang peribahasa tu diambil dari Kitab freemason? Mungkin Ammar pernah tebaca di mana2 kan? and if I am using you logic that I can also say that Ammar ialah golongan Freemanson yg menyembah Dajjal dan menolak kesucian ISLAM. Tun M reads A LOT. To say that he is a follower of Freemason just because he quoted an idiom (a normal idiom that you can find anywhere on the net btw) from a Freemason book is just plain STUPID. I think I have to say it again. It i just STUPID. As if if I walk into a church then I am automatically a Christian.
Memanglah kita tak boleh ambil literal translation idiom DTM tu tp yg saya heran KENAPA kita nk gunapakai idiom sebegitu yg tak berasas tu? Just coz mat salleh comfortable dgn idiom mcm tu, kita pun nk pakai? And apa2pun tak semestinya sesuatu idiom tu ada kebenaran. Dlm kes ni, mmg kita kena lihat juga kebenaran betulkah ‘ lebih baik setan yg kita kenali dpd malaikat yg tak kita kenali’? Analoginya… ‘valid lagikah kita nak gunapakai peribahasa ‘biar mati anak dpd mati adat’? Food for thought, eh?
You missed the point here mister. First of all, you said tak boleh ambil literal translation tu, tapi at the of your comment that is exactly what you did! This is what you wrote:
Dlm kes ni, mmg kita kena lihat juga kebenaran betulkah ‘ lebih baik setan yg kita kenali dpd malaikat yg tak kita kenali’?
If that is not literal translation then I don’t know what is. Anyway, you can choose to disagree with the idiom, it’s a free world. i believe the point of this post is just to point out how ridiculous the opposition has been by using the literal translation of this idiom and saying that Mahathir wants the rakyat to support the “devil” when actually the “devil” in the idiom refers to someone that you may not like.
since you like taking idioms literally, here’s another food for your thought; ditelan mati emak, diluah mati bapak. And please don’t utter these in front of the opposition as they might think that you plan to eat your parents.
i have one simple question to you.
“Angel you don’t” is very sarcarstic towards pakatan.
They’ve managed 4 states for 4 years and yet surpassed the bn performance for 55 years. How do I know? Please refer Laporan Audit Negara 2010 and 2011. Its there.
Is it justifiable that pakatan was being mentioned as “Angel you dont”?
And another thing.
You dont play things with idiom when it comes to Malaikat dan Iblis. If you said so, like “its okay, its just idiom like break a leg”, then Rasulullah SAW or other prophets would have said that long time ago. Why would you want to use just that idiom? U can use others’ more. there’s 300000++ of hadith of Rasulullah SAW and 6666 ayaaats of Al-Quran.
Do not compare idioms with our faithful. That is what exactly Nizar said.
Thanks.
no problem sir.
Just I hope, you don’t lie to yourself in using words or idioms that looked like literally against religion or self inflicting and hurting yourself. 🙂
Or else, you will just making a fool of yourself.. for not being able to understand, on any or similar stated in which nothing to do with faith. 🙂
Two types of ignorance ; either we have limitation to know or we are in denial to know.First type taking some challenges to change,second type need psychological cahnges for it. Everything around us need to be understand in whole to spread the beauty of knowledge,not selective or part by part to fulfill our stand that we never know which part is right or wrong. The problem here, this guy Nizar try to manipulate the idea of Dr. M to create a perception that Dr. M tried to play with things stated in Al-Quran while the things actually an idiom. It is as simple as a school pupil can differentiate this Nizar trick.For people that being fooled by him, I feel sorry for your ignorance.
You must know that the actual phrase of the idiom is “Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t” which the exact meaning is what u’ve stated up there. have you ever wonder why Tun M changed the devil to the angel? I mean he must have a motive right? Plus the direct translation made by the harakah daily is just quite the same. “Deal” here has a broad meaning. Dealing in terms of what? From harakah we can see that it is dealing in terms of choosing to participate or vote etc. Once again, the word angel there must have mean something right? Just my personal opinion.